Request for Advice: Cold War mission unit types?

[cfrag]

Hey everyone, 

       I'm about to embark on my first try at creating a cold war era mission (multitype/multiplayer), and I just realized that even though I know roughly white time frame the mission would be, it spans some 45 years, and I have no idea what a good mix for fun missions in DCS are, what time period to choose. So I'd like to solicit your opinions and expertise:

1. What player controlled aircraft make a good "cold war" mix (I don't want to mix planes that have to great a difference in abilities)
2. Once I picked the player planes, what are a good fit for AI planes
3. How about AAA and SAM that also fit well for this?

I'm aware that there are multiple sets that fit the bill, and I have little interest in historical accuracy - I want to create fun PvE missions (not PvP, that may come later). So there may be the sabre/mig 15 set (with fitting AA and SAM?) and there may be the late 80's set. You are the judge what's fun, I'd merely like to know what you think when you hear "fun cold war mission".

Thank you for any insight!

 

[diego999]

Mirage F1, Phantom, MiG-19, MiG-21, F-5, MiG-23, MiG-25, Su-22, Su-25. If you want to go with mods, A-4. All those are roughly balanced. You can add the F-14A but it would be much better than anything else, like it was in real life during that period.

If you want to push to the late 80's you could add the Mirage 2000, F-15, F-18 and F-16 (without AMRAAMs), Su-27 and MiG-29 (without R-77 if you use the S version).

For AI, avoid MiG-15 and MiG-21. Their AI flight model is broken unless you add some weight via scripting. F-5 is questionable too, and F1 is annoying in the sense it can fly with perfect control at minimum speed without stalling, in situations YOU flying that plane would drop down like a brick. The rest are decent.

SA-2, SA-3 and SA-6 for the red side. Hawk for the blue. If you go into the 80's there are more modern systems, but they become too good for these older planes, at least in my preference.

For AAA units, red side ZSU-23-4 and 57-2, M163 for blue. The 23-4 will absolutely murder anything that gets into range. I don't know how realistic is that, but is something to have in mind.

You can add older artillery for variety, like the Bofors or the 100mm for the soviets.

 

 

Edited November 17, 2024 by diego999
forgot the F-15